In: Statistics and Probability
Emerging evidence suggests that younger maternal age may increase the rate of stroke within 6 weeks of delivery. Let’s use the following HYPOTHETICAL dataset to explore this association (Table 1). Women were classified as aged 16-19 years, 20-34 or 35-44 at the time of delivery. Within each maternal age category, person-time accrued until a woman either had a stroke within 6 weeks of delivery, was lost to follow-up or died of other causes, or was no longer at risk (beyond 6 weeks post-delivery).
Table 1: Association between maternal age and stroke within 6 weeks of delivery
| 
 Aged 16-19  | 
 Aged 20-34  | 
 Aged 35-44  | 
 Total  | 
|
| 
 Stroke  | 
 23  | 
 281  | 
 45  | 
 349  | 
| 
 No Stroke  | 
 229,692  | 
 3,097,513  | 
 539,844  | 
 3,867,049  | 
| 
 Total Person-Weeks  | 
 1,378,159  | 
 18,585,546  | 
 3,239,006  | 
 23,202,711  | 
a. Calculate the incidence rate ratio for the association between maternal age 16-19, relative to maternal age 35-44, and stroke within 6 weeks of delivery. Round to two decimal places. (3 points)
b. Calculate the excess incidence rate ratio for the association between maternal age 20-34, relative to maternal age 35-44, and stroke within 6 weeks of delivery. Round to two decimal places. (3.5 points)